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Carter Thicke was confident his late father Alan would survive following his heart attack because “everything seemed fine.”

The Growing Pains actor was playing hockey with the 19-year-old in Burbank, California in December when he suffered a heart attack. He was rushed to hospital, where he had an emergency operation, but he later died, aged 69.

Carter recently sat down with Entertainment Tonight for his first interview since Alan’s death to reveal what he witnessed and their final moments together.

In the chat, which airs in full on Thursday, he confessed the experience was “brutal” and “really rough” and he initially thought his dad would get better.

“The ambulance came and the paramedics had stabilized him and everything seemed fine,” Carter said. “I got to give him a hug and said, ‘I love you,’ and that was the last time I saw him… He was like the perfect dad.”

Carter is Alan’s only son with his second wife Gina. The actor was also father to singer Robin and Brennan from his first marriage to Days of Our Lives actress Gloria Loring.

Carter took to Instagram shortly after his father’s death to post an emotional tribute.

“Today I lost my best friend and my idol, and the world lost one of it’s finest,” he wrote. “I have never known a more kind, loving, hairy, and generous person in my life and I am forever grateful for the light that this man brought to my life and so many others. You will be missed every second of every day. You are a legend and I love you Pops. Until next time.”

Today I lost my best friend and my idol, and the world lost one of it's finest. You are a legend and I love you Pops. Until next time. pic.twitter.com/ZQd2NZMTx4

The teenager honoured his dad, who was married to Tanya Callau when he died, by playing in a celebrity hockey game at the Staples Center in Los Angeles over the weekend alongside the likes of Justin Bieber and Cuba Gooding, Jr.